Teenager’s grave trashed

A mum has spoken of her anger and disbelief after the grave of her teenage daughter was trashed by callous yobs.

Shelley White was appalled to arrive at Leigh Cemetery to find a trail of wreckage strewn around daughter Chloe’s final resting place on Saturday.

Chloe White

Ornaments and memorial objects placed in tribute to former Hope School pupil Chloe, who died of pneumonia last July aged just 16, were broken to pieces by vandals at the Manchester Road cemetery.

Shelley, of Lake Side in Leigh, and her shocked family managed to tidy up the worst of the mess but the appalling damage, which was discovered at around 12.50pm on Saturday, has left them deeply stunned and angry,

Shelley said: “I was devastated. I couldn’t eat for the rest of the day and I was shaking, Her dad was also fuming, he jumped straight out of the car when he saw it.

“There was a cherub my mum had bought which was all smashed up, little bunnies we had put there for Easter had their heads knocked off and a big sign my sister had put there for Valentine’s Day with ‘I love you’ on it was damaged.

“Chloe loved bright colours and a windmill we put there had been ripped up. It waabsolutely awful. My two nephews, who are only eight and seven, were there and they were very upset. I just couldn’t believe it.

“It’s really hard to think about what’s happened. It is just shocking for our family.

“My mum has said we can replace things but that’s not the point. I just don’t know why anybody would do this. We can’t name them but we can shame them.”

Shelley said the horrific devastation at the grave was the first time Chloe’s headstone and memorial had been targeted.

Disabled Chloe struggled with illness throughout her short life but spent time in hospital last April and May before being transferred to Derian House in Chorley, where she sadly died on July 28 after a six-week stay at the children’s hospice. Tragically, she passed away the day after her grandmother’s birthday.

Shelley says she and Chloe’s dad David Taylor have now reported the vandalism to Wigan Council.

Sadly it is not the first time that Wiganers have been left disgusted by the actions of yobs trashing graves.

Last year a story in our sister paper the Wigan Observer about the resting places of a soldier and a young child being vandalised at Gidlow Cemetery brought forward several angry and upset residents saying their loved ones’ graves had also been damaged.

Calls were also made for CCTV cameras to be installed to catch those responsible and a Facebook group was set up.